Verde Miami – A Sun Splashed Jamaican Prix Fixe at PAMM
Verde Miami is a casual restaurant and café, with magnificent views of the bay, at the gorgeous Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM). Verde is offering a special pre-fixe menu to honor the new Sun Splashed exhibit created by Jamaican-born, New York-based artist Nari Ward.
Pérez Art Museum Miami’s Sun Splashed represents the largest exhibition of Nari Ward’s installations to date, and showcases his found object sculptures and groundbreaking installations as well as photography, video, and collage. Featuring work from the 1990s to today, the exhibit references the artist’s native Jamaica, African- American history and culture, the dynamics of power and politics, and Caribbean Diaspora identity.
Nari Ward – Land, 2002-present – Image courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin
Verde Miami’s Executive Chef Kaytlin Brakefield translates the artist’s vision of integrating found objects in a variety of art forms to depict the current cultural state of the Caribbean island nation. In her interpretation, Chef Kaytlin constructed a menu that uses traditional Jamaican and repurposed ingredients that references the installations within the exhibit.
Before the start of Art Basel Miami, I had the opportunity to view the SUN SPLASHED exhibit and enjoy Verde Miami’s colorful prix fixe menu complimenting the works of Jamaican artist Nari Ward.
To start, Calabaza and Corn Soup with Coconut Milk, Spiced Pumpkin Seeds and Squash Blossom Chips, served tableside. Our server first plated the sweet corn kernels and spiced pumpkin seeds mixture topped with a squash blossom chip. Then, the Calabaza with Coconut Soup was poured in to the soup bowl.
The smooth, orange West Indian pumpkin, similar in taste to the slightly sweet butternut squash, and nutty milk combined beautifully with the crunchy texture of the corn and nuts.
Nari Ward – Scandal Bag; History Feeds Mistrust, 2015, – Photographed by Steven Rose, Courtesy the artist.
This colorful Nari Ward chromogenic print, Scandal Bag; History Feeds Mistrust, is 20 by 20 inches.
Verde Miami’s main entrée is Oxtail Ravioli with brown butter and sage. Each luscious dumpling was made from pasta scraps, and filled with a traditional Jamaican ingredient, Oxtail. I would have personally preferred if the flavorful and beefy filling was more notably seasoned with sage than salt.
Nari Ward – Iron Heavens, 1995 – Image courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin
This impressive Nari Ward installation piece is comprised of oven pans, ironed cotton, and burnt wooden bats, and measures 140 by 148 by 48 inches.
The prixe fix meal ends with Rum Bread Pudding with Mango Sauce, created by repurposing day-old bread. This dense, but moist bread-based dessert loaded with rum-soaked raisins and served with Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream and pureed mango shmear.
Nari Ward – Mango Tourist, 2011 – Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin
These playful, larger than life sculptures transform frozen snowman-like figures into tropical “tourists” made from foam, electrical scraps, and discarded mango seeds.
Verde Miami at Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is located at 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL 33132. For more information visit: www.pamm.org/dining
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